Excellent Educator

Changing the world through engineering:
Aleena Taufiq '18

“[My SMU research] experiences taught me so much about different aspects of engineering, and it gave me such a good feeling to be part of research that can have real impact.”

Thanks to scholarships and hard work, Aleena Taufiq ’18 found her talent for engineering through a project and shaped a college experience that included life-saving medical research. SMU also provided financial support for her passion project – Geared Up, an engineering enrichment program for low-income middle school and high school students in the Dallas area. By the time she graduated, Aleena had taken Geared Up to schools across the country and landed her dream job in artificial intelligence.